Nearly all course work for the PhD program has been successfully completed. In addition, the qualifying examinations for the PhD program have been completed. The biomedical engineering PhD program does not begin the formal research leading to the degree until the second year of study. Dr. Ramp has performed preliminary experiments under the mentorship of Dr. Jack Lemons and Dr. Linda Lucas utilizing epifluorescent microscopy to determine if the interface between living cells and a sapphire implant in situ could be imaged. The advantage of such a system is that the biocompatability of the single crustal sapphire could be assessed without destruction of the implant or the interface itself. This project is not without technological risk. A primary goal over the next three months will be to determine whether or not the interface can be focused using an optimizing combination of optics and advanced filtering and morphological methods.